Thin rectangular sheets of aluminum foil, referred to as “hair foils,” are commonly used by professional hair colorists and hair stylists to color or highlight the hair of customers in hair salons. Each rectangular hair foil is used to form a “packet” which is locked in place into a selected hair section with a lock of hair and a desired coloring composition. As many as fifty or more hair foils may be required to color a single head of hair. A busy hair colorist will use thousands of hair foils in a week.
Conventional rectangular or square hair foils are supplied to hair salons in stacks of flat foil sheets often separated by paper sheets. Hair foils are also sold as a pop-up style and in the form of continuous rolls of foil with a cutter to cut a custom length of foil chosen by the colorist. Many colorists simply work with what are commonly referred to as potato wrap foils.
Conventional rectangular or square hair foils require multiple folds to lock the foil packet with coloring product into the selected hair section. Thus, during its use as a hair foil, each foil sheet is folded at least once and usually multiple times by the hair colorist to form a pocket for the lock of hair and coloring composition. To facilitate this step the foil sheets are prepared before the hair coloring procedure begins by cutting to size and/or creasing a plurality of sheets. This makes it easier for the hair colorist to use them during the hair coloring procedure.
The preparation of hair foils is time consuming and tedious work and there have been efforts to mechanize the process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,062,947, Jun. 20, 2006 to James Douglas Farfor for CUTTING AND FOLDING MACHINE discloses a cutting and folding machine for cutting foil from a sheet into rectangular pieces with one edge folded over to provide reinforcement along that edge. U.S. Pat. No. 8,387,432, Mar. 5, 2013 TO Ross et al. for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SHEETS OF FOIL discloses a machine for automatically dispensing sheets of foil ready for use in coloring hair.
However, machines are relatively expensive and may not be available to the hair colorist. Therefore, there remains a need for an improved and economical device for manual preparation of foils for hair color placement which will facilitate the preparation and use of the foils during the hair coloring process. There also remains a need for an improved hair coloring procedure. Accordingly, the present invention provides a small brake device for creasing triangular hair foils and a method of their use which offers several advantages over traditional rectangular or square hair foils.
Whereas conventional hair foils require multiple folds to lock the foil packet with product into the selected hair section, the triangular hair foils of the present invention require only a single fold to lock the foil packet into place. This single locking fold of the triangular foil allows for quicker and cleaner release from the hair than the multiple locking folds required by a rectangular foil. Additionally, triangular foils allow for the treated hair section to be placed farther into the body of the packet, away from the foil crease, keeping the product on the selected section of hair and decreasing the possibility of uneven product saturation and product displacement that can result from the multiple folds of rectangular foils pushing the product away from the hair section, thereby avoiding what is known in the industry as lines of demarcation. By placing the crease of the triangular foils parallel to the temporal hair line, the packets of product and treated hair are kept out of the client's eyes and face as the packets are folded, closed and directed away from the face, keeping chemicals away from the customer's face. This technique also provides a more professional presentation on the part of the colorist than allowed by traditional rectangular foils.
The present invention is directed to a device for manual preparation of triangular hair color placement foils and to their method of use. In accordance with the present invention the device can be provided at little expense yet is practical and will facilitate the preparation of triangular foils to make the life of the hair coloring user much easier. Use of triangular hair foils allows coverage of more head surface in a shorter time than use of conventional rectangular foils. Triangular foils also can be easily directed away from the face of the client and provide a more attractive, finished look during the coloring process.
Further understanding of the present invention will be had from the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.